


Transmutation and Pie

by sal_amander



Series: His Grey Wings [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Master of Death (Harry Potter), Master of Death Harry Potter, MoD!Harry, Post Glamour Springs, Taako Needs A Hug, Takko angst, suicide TW
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-12
Updated: 2019-12-13
Packaged: 2021-02-25 20:34:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21771532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sal_amander/pseuds/sal_amander
Summary: Forty people dead. Forty people from Glamour Springs, and it was all his fault. Sazed left as soon as they got out of dodge, and Taako didn’t blame him. And every day after, transmuting nightshade became more and more appealing. Its what happened to them, so, he thought, it’s what should happen to him.Or: The one where Harry gains a new member, and this time, its someone who came of their own violation. It is not a happy thought.(I'd recommend reading the rest of the series, heads up! ^^")
Series: His Grey Wings [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1476032
Kudos: 32





	Transmutation and Pie

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, yes, as said in the tags, this fic contains suicide and themes along that. Please be careful reading this!

There was a fuzz in the back of his mind. 

As long as he could remember, he’s had it. A nagging that he’s not good enough, that someone else deserves his place, that he shouldn’t dream- he should settle on something low and dusty.

Lately, his whole world has been fuzzy.

Its not even the quiet fuzz that comes and goes, now. Its more like the Fuzz on asps- it hurts, even when you just barely brush them. It hurts, but its all his fault. He deserves this hurt, because forty people in glamour springs died, and he got off without a scratch.

If he was being honest with himself, the days fuzzed together, now. There was hurt, and he was running, and he was so, so lost- somewhere deep in some woods, and he was only going deeper. Anywhere without people, without talkingpukingscreaming-

But he told himself it would be fine. No one finds him, he finds no one, it would be safe. Everyone would be fine.

It wasn’t fine.

Sazed left as soon as he could. He took supplies and a horse, and he ran.

It only made Takko fall further in. He hardly ate, he didn’t do magic, and he never slept. It was unhealthy, but he couldn’t take any of what his dreams threw at him. Harsh replays, what could have happened. What did. What didn’t. 

He should have eaten that chicken, not them.

The first time he does magic in four days, its to transmute a few wild berries into nightshade. He doesn’t actively know why he does it, he just does.

He twirls the small sprigg in his hands in a daze, not looking up from it. He plucks the leaves off, and twists pieces of twig off, but he doesn’t touch the berries. The moment he snaps out of the silent dissociation, he chucks the berries far out of the campsite and hyperventilates in the corner of the stagecoach for close to an hour.

He’s done this a few times now- and stopped chucking them away after the third time. He left them around the campsite, in the storage cart, around where he was working, around where he was cooking.

At first, he didn’t quite realize why he felt compelled to do this, but after he nearly grabs it instead of the blueberries right next to it, he knows. He understands. He gathers up all the berries left around, close to twenty spriggs, and locks them up in a jar with a preservation enchantment.

He says he’s putting them there so no animals will accidentally eat them, and he won’t grab them, but he knows that’s not the reason. By the end of the week, seventeen sprigs are added to the jar.

He’s saving them up, and he knows why, and he hates it.

The twenty first day of being in these woods starts up, and he hears the rumble of horses. A quick scout around, and he knew they were guards, after him for murdering forty people. 

He didn’t have much time, so he grabs food, his money, and a few other essentials, and burns his carts to the ground. He saddles up his horse and runs, as far and fast as he could. 

Among these items, he knows, is the nightshade.

He traveled for days, only stopping when the horse needed to. He managed to lose them after he ran through a rough mountain chain, and he thanked the gods that it was summer. 

He may not have survived the passage if it was winter- and all things considered, wasn’t that a funny thought. Really.

A few more spriggs were added to the jar, and he felt bitter.

It was during a fill, when he noticed he was almost out of food, and he was still stranded in the middle of the mountains.

Really. Funny.

Well, he was going to die anyway, right?

He pointedly ignored the rockport train that ran in the distance- where the rest stop was for a small mountain village was for people to get on and off.

So he sat down under a particularly bent tree and set up camp.

He had apples, and a cast iron pot, and could transmute the rest of the ingredients- it didn’t really matter if he got something wrong, now.

He wrote a note attached to the saddle of his horse, telling whoever found it to keep it and the supplies on it, and sent it off towards the village, frowning.

He spinned on heel and started putting things together. A rock for some sugar, leaves for some flour, and just about everything else needed for an apple pie. A small one though, so he wouldn't leave anything for animals to unfortunately eat.

It wouldn’t do to poison anything else. Only the person that deserved it.

After everything else was ready, he started getting the nightshade prepared, separating the berries from the twigs, still in perfect condition. A few moments later, and the berries went into the pie, and he set it to cook for an hour.

The hour waiting was spent setting up what he kept on him- spellbooks, money, and a few important items, by the tree next to him. He’d be surrounded by them when he died, and would probably go to whatever poor sap found his body- or bones- or maybe just the tree.

It was a depressing train of thought, and was wrangled out of it when his timer spell went off, signaling the pie was done. 

He set it to the side, not caring about the hot metal blistering his skin, and let it cool, staring intently at it.

The sun was starting to set, and he needs to do this now.

Taako picked up the cooled pie gingerly, and his back slid down the tree. It was maybe the size of his hand, just a small, but he knew how many berries fit in this thing. How fucking poisonus this would be.

This was…

This was fine.

He raised the pie up to his mouth, slowly.

Perfectly fine.

He bit into it.

Flavour wise, it wasn’t his best. Not his worst, but not up there. The effectiveness was something else though, he could already feel his stomach churning.

He finished it quickly, and lied back, closing his eyes.

The next time he opened them, he was sitting in a waiting room. There were plants strewn about, all wonderfully cared for, and an old jukebox playing something quietly. 

Was this some kind of hospital waiting room? It was clean enough for one, but as ke looked around the room, it looked almost too homey. There were a few paintings that looked like the artist was progressing- from a disproportionate crow to an artful piece of a golden ship in space.

His head hurt a bit, when he looked at it, but he couldn’t pinpoint why.

As he looked around, he noticed a platter of cheese and crackers on a table and an empty cup, with a little note next to it.

“To: Any being that happens to pop in. 

Help yourself to these.  
The food is charmed to stay fresh.  
The cup will give you any non-alchaholic drink,  
you just have to think about it to it.

I will probably be with you in less than a minute, but still, just in case.

-H”

Ok, right. Not weird at all. Just normal… hospital things… why was he in a waiting room, anyway? He ate the… well, he ate it, so if anything, he should have been in a hospital room.

Or something.

Maybe it was just a weird hospital.

He picked a cracker up and inspected it, thought about what probably brought him here, and ate it.

It was… good. As far as crackers went, at least.

A door opened up from a blank space in the wall in front of him, and a man tumbled out- human looking, with warm brown skin and dark hair, and a light green sweater.

Very short, as well.

The man seemed almost worried when he opened the door, but that quickly turned to confusion when he saw Taako sitting in one of the chairs quietly. “I- Well, hello, uh, hold on.”

Taako nodded slowly, and the man held out a hand and a book materialized. “New organization system- uh, Grif recommended it.”

“I’m afraid I don’t know them, my man.”

The man gave a nervous smile. “Ah- right, sorry. I’m not used to new people- you think I would be, right?”

Taako shrugged, and the man sighed. “What’s your name then?”

This made the man’s smile a bit more genuine. “Ah, I’m Harry, at your service,” he looks down at the bood. “I see that your name is Taako?”

“-Um, yes, nice to meet you Harry.”

“Nice to meet you too, Taako, though I wish it were under better circumstances.”

Taako shrugged. “I mean, I didn’t expect to wake up in a hospital, but…”

“Hospital? I- no. This isn’t a hospital. You’re… dead, Taako.”

Taako’s face meshed up a bit, and he sighed. “Ah. Fair enough then, ‘s what I was expecting, anyway.”

It was Harry’s turn to frown. “Expected? I- can I check how you… died, real quick?”

Taako grimnanced. “I mean, It’s not like I can say no, right?”

“What? Of course you can say no. I’ve been… a bit invasive to others in the past, but I am trying to respect boundaries.”

Taako stared for a moment. “Thank you- I… sure, go ahead.”

Harry nodded with a smile, and looked down at the book again. His smile quickly fell as he read. When he looked up again, Taako was hiding his face with the brim of his large hat.

“I- ‘m sorry..” he mumbled, and Harry set the book down, walking over slowly. 

“You’re not in trouble, Taako, and you never were. I promise.”

Taako looked up to see Harry giving him a small, warm smile, and he could see the way his eyebrows were furrowed in worry and sincerity.

They were both quiet for a few moments, and Taako let go of his hat, and Harry could see his ears pinning themselves downwards. 

“I should explain why you’re here, yeah? You can probably tell you’re not in your material plain, astral plain, or anything slightly familiar?”

Taako looked at his quizzically, nodding slowly.

“That’s because your in my little pocket of existence. It spans all of everything, and also nothing. Just- dont worry about it. I am the creator, the governor, the everything. I’ve created all this, eons upon eons ago, and it’s my job to make sure it runs as it should. That being said, some things slip, and someone, like you, die when they’re not supposed to.”

Taako nodded again, still slowly. “So, am I- what do I do, then, If i’m not supposed to-”

“You’re not in trouble, Taako. You have two options, move on- I’ll bring you to your astral plain, or join me. Become a balancer, and help the Universe. You’d go back to your own world and continue your story, come here when you want- housing, food, and all that would be provided for you here- and if I need your help, I’ll call you. It won’t happen often though.” Harry explained, smiling.

“I…” Taako messed with a few loose ribbons on his outfit. “I’ll get to help people?”

Harry nodded. “Yes, you will.”

“Then I’ll join you.”

Harry smiled, and gestured Taako to get up. “I’ll show you around the ‘home’ I’ve made with my balancers, I think you’ll fit right in to the rest of the family.” 

Taako blinked. “Family?”

Harry nodded. “All my balancers are my family,” he opened the door, into a warm living room. A blonde kid was sitting in a hanging chair, listening to some music and reading. A tall man was watering some plants. There was someone on the couch, eating takeout. They all turned as they entered, and waved.

Harry smiled, turning to Taako.

“Welcome home, Taako.”


End file.
